Samsung joins Apple, launches a smartphone upgrade program of its own

[Shawn Knight]

Smartphone sales in developed nations are slowing as markets are starting to peak, a realization that is prompting handset manufacturers to borrow a page from the playbook of wireless providers and provide their own financing / early upgrade programs.

Apple introduced an iPhone upgrade program with the launch of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus last September and as expected, rival Samsung is now following suit.

Reuters notes that Samsung introduced an upgrade program that'll go live in South Korea this week, allowing customers to upgrade to a new premium smartphone every 12 months.

Using the new Galaxy S7 / S7 Edge as an example, a customer could sign up for a 24-month installment plan from Samsung and pay a monthly fee of 7,700 won ($6.35) on top of the cost of the device. After 12 months, the customer could turn in their phone in exchange for the next flagship and restart the installment plan or keep paying for another year and eventually own the device outright.

Early upgrade options allow consumers to always have a "new" smartphone. The drawback, however, is that you're essentially leasing a smartphone and will always be making a device payment without ever having anything to show for it at the end of the day.

Those that stick with a phone over the long haul or pay for it in full at the time of purchase will of course be left with a device they actually own which can be kept as a backup, sold, passed down to a friend or family member or used until it breaks.

Samsung is also offering a similar program for its latest devices in the UK but the company hasn't said if it'll be expanding the program to the US or any other regions.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/64047-samsung-joins-apple-launches-smartphone-upgrade-program-own.html

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Forget it! These's absolutely no way I'd pay off on anything that loses most of it's value in five minutes. This is a trap that most people fall into.

 

[AvalonMD]

Forget it! These's absolutely no way I'd pay off on anything that loses most of it's value in five minutes. This is a trap that most people fall into.

but, but, but... You get to have a shiny new phone, that's a bit bigger, shinier, marginally faster, has a resolution that melt your cornea's, removes the option of removing a battery / SD card... what's not to like, plus you get to pay FOREVER, now that's a deal worth losing your money over!!!

 

[Mister_K]

How is it this any different than contracts or paying for a flagship of anything? This actually works out cheaper depending on your usage than signing up with phone carriers like AT&T and the likes.

Here in UK to get decent Bandwith allowance or even Unlimited with the S7 Edge is at least £45 a month.

I opted in for the S7 Edge via Samsungs upgrade plan (coming from beat up S4) which is £27 a month +£65 one off fee.

So, £27 (Samsungs monthly) x 24 (term) = £624 + 65 (one off) = £689 (total over 2 year term)
Then £20 (monthly sim pay as you go) x 24 = £480 (total over 2 year term of sim pay as you go) + £689 (total of 2 year term for device) = £1169 (total).

That's on the cheaper end of things.

While someone like Three or EE with 20GB minimum Monthly data allowance is around 1.2k at least.

 

[psycros]

How is it this any different than contracts or paying for a flagship of anything? This actually works out cheaper depending on your usage than signing up with phone carriers like AT&T and the likes.

Here in UK to get decent Bandwith allowance or even Unlimited with the S7 Edge is at least £45 a month.

I opted in for the S7 Edge via Samsungs upgrade plan (coming from beat up S4) which is £27 a month +£65 one off fee.

So, £27 (Samsungs monthly) x 24 (term) = £624 + 65 (one off) = £689 (total over 2 year term)
Then £20 (monthly sim pay as you go) x 24 = £480 (total over 2 year term of sim pay as you go) + £689 (total of 2 year term for device) = £1169 (total).

That's on the cheaper end of things.

While someone like Three or EE with 20GB minimum Monthly data allowance is around 1.2k at least.

When this comes to America, the land of the Fleeced, people will actually see this deal as potentially attractive. You can't even get unlimited data here and wireless service costs twice what it does in most of the developed world.

 

[Nobina]

I get bored of phones pretty fast but I still wouldn't take this upgrade program.

 

[Technician]

Samsung used to have decent looking phones, now they look like cheap trash.

You know they are building them cheap when they are estimating the life expectancy at 12 months.

If I buy a phone that can't last at least five years, I wouldn't want to buy another from that company again.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

but, but, but... You get to have a shiny new phone, that's a bit bigger, shinier, marginally faster, has a resolution that melt your cornea's, removes the option of removing a battery / SD card... what's not to like, plus you get to pay FOREVER, now that's a deal worth losing your money over!!!

There's nothing wrong with that, that's the way business is done but it's not the way I do business because I'd always be on the losing side. That said, as a consumer I'm on the losing side anyway but I cut my losses. I don't want to help make these companies any richer than they need to be.

 

[Mister_K]

Samsung used to have decent looking phones, now they look like cheap trash.

You know they are building them cheap when they are estimating the life expectancy at 12 months.

If I buy a phone that can't last at least five years, I wouldn't want to buy another from that company again.

What? How is it 12 months? I had all my previous phones for at least 2 years (only ever had 2 mind you). The upgrade program is because of the interval of the phone releases? It wouldn't make sense to have a trade up program for 24/36 months. Looking at the warranty, it's actually 24months.

Current range of phones are certainly the most beautiful on the market than ever before. I don't like the back side of Samsungs, but everything else is pretty spot on.

As any businessman knows. Maximize income, minimize expenses while balancing out everything else. Go too far and you give your self a bad rep.

 

[lripplinger]

The headline for this article should read: "SAMPLE launches smartphone upgrade program" =p